Is Tampa Bay pitching overrated?

While Tampa Bay has had plenty of named talent over the last few years from Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and then David Price came along. This along with a top offense and elite talent has led to their recent success in the AL East. Perhaps overvalued is a bit harsh, but they have several pitching changes and again compared to their peers in the division have some flaws.

Departing this year will be the presence of Kazmir at the top of the rotation, but that shouldn’t be a bad thing. His walk rate was always high and with the drop in velocity it’s likely the drop in strikeouts is going to stick around. He is surely not the ace of seasons before.

That leaves James Shields as the team ace and that is a good start. He was the ninth most valuable pitcher in the AL last year based on pitching runs above replacement. There were some cracks in his season though as his walk rate climbed, but not an extreme amount and should regress in 2010.

5/2: Cy Wake

The Rays hold a career average of .298 against Wakefield (for complete list visit Baseball Reference here). But Wakefield has still managed a ton of success at Tropicana Field with a 9-3 career record and 2.86 ERA in St. Pete. The Sox need this one. They have called upon their stopper.

Know Thine Enemy 2009: Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off their first successful season in the history of the franchise. Finally, they’re not considered doormats with no vision of the future. Now the Pirates stand alone there. (Even the Royals are much improved!)

This club is scary in the pool of young talent they already hold plus more on the way in the minor leagues. The Rays will compete for a very, very long time. But will they be able to withstand the Red Sox and Yankees assault in 2009?